A Splash No Less

The shoot with the two guys from Richmond was a blast, or should I say a splash! They got here at half past nine and the light was getting intense. We had an hour to shoot outdoors and the photos turned out fine.

The shoot was my first that gave me a sense of a professional location shoot. Arron and Scott are phenomenally great models. We have a history now so working together is like working inside the same skin. They move into their own poses spontaneously yet respond to my directions quickly. This is the joy of model photography. The shoot moves along seamlessly.

When we got to the pool, two maintenance guys were cleaning. The pool guy told us they would be finished in twenty minutes. We walked down to the beach and unto the dock where we took some great shots with the blue lake water and the apartment complex beyond as backdrop. Sunlit images have taken on a new attraction for me. I love the wider palette of colors that natural light brings out.

When we moved back to the pool, we had the whole area to ourselves. It was funny. For the twenty years I've lived here at Harbour Club I had visited the pool maybe once. When the management changed the lock to the gate several years ago I didn't even bother to get a new key. It took a week to get the new key. Over and over I see the dynamics of how life unfolds. I would never have thought of having such a perfect location for shooting so close to home just two weeks ago! It's convenient, too. I forgot to bring my 8 Gig card and I quickly got a "CF Full" message on the Canon. Returning to the house for the card was a cinch. I was back at the pool in minutes.

The guys had changed to swimsuits. I asked them to horse around while I took pictures. Soon they were both in the water. I didn't even have to adjust the camera settings to catch droplets of water as they splashed each other. I wish now I had asked them to jump out of the water and jump up from the ground more. More action shots would have been great!

I didn't shoot as many pictures yesterday. We came back to the studio and shot a few pictures of the guys in dressier outfits and soon it was time for lunch. Even Scott piped up and said he was hungry and ready for food.

The last few years I'd gone around mostly in tee shirts and shorts in the summer, tee shirts and jeans in colder weather. In my closet though I still had dressier outfits that I kept buying even after I stopped wearing them. I had a DKNY zip-up turtle neck that looked great with black slacks on Scott. The red-and-gray cotton sweater suited Arron, hiding how another satin cotton black slacks were too big around his waist. I even found them a Perry Ellis and a black Armani Italian-leather belt. Funny still I never thought of myself as a clothes horse before.

I reformatted the CF card on Arron's Canon and he started taking quite good photos of Scott at the studio. He got so involved shooting that I didn't take enough photos of him in his outfit. By three I was actually exhausted as we looked at Quick Look previews of the shoot. The guys also chose photos for their new print portfolios.

The day could have been fuller but I am happy with what we produced. Every shoot I do I learn something new. The adage is true: one can only see until the next bend in the road. And the road keeps bending!

Next on my agenda is to build a commercial Flash-based website, and then I'll start serious marketing. Apple's troubles with web pages on the new me.com is pushing me to another bend that I know I need to explore anyway. Meanwhile the sense is growing, too, that I can't keep on working to improve my photography style. I don't aspire to perfection but a photo shoot can always be better. I need then to move on to exposing my work to public bidding.

For now, here's a photo of Arron splashed.